Favorite Vegetable Varieties For The Market Garden

14 years ago

Hi All,

I'm going to give market gardening a shot this coming summer and have been doing a lot of research. As my id says I live in Iowa (SW). I should also note that everything except the corn will be grown on plastic mulch. I've spoken with a lot of seed reps and am planning to plant the following varieties:

Sweet Corn: BC 808 and BC 805 (syngenta bt varieties)

Tomato: Mountain Glory, Crimson Red, Rocky Top, Mountain Fresh, VHN 961

Zucchini: Paycheck

Watermelon: Top Gun

Cantaloupe: Athena

Cucumber: Marketmore 76, Fanfare, Cross Country

Bell Pepper: Aristotle, Crusader

Yellow Squash: Patriot II, Sunglow

Please let me know if you have had bad experiences with any of this or if you have other preferences. Looking for vigorous high yielding varieties that will be kind to a rookie. Ive farmed and gardened for years but never raised produce on a large market scale.

Thanks,

Eric

Comments (4)

tommyk
14 years ago
We always sell out of Sungold tomatoes

Almost any tomato, especially heirlooms are going to sell. Omar's Lebanese, Rose, Italian Beefsteak, Kellogg's Breakfast, Black Krim, Black from Tula, Prudence Purple, Pineapple and many others are favorites.

Ping Tung, Ichiban, Galine & Dusky eggplants are big sellers.

Diva, Sweet Success, Sweeter Yet, Beth Alpha, Eureka cukes are popular along with almost any pickler.

Revolution & Carmen peppers sell quite well for us. We have our own strain of Thai Dragon hot pepper that will give any other hot pepper a run for its money. It is super productive and matures to a fiery red way before any Habanero!

Zephyr, Magda, White Bush Lebanese, Cocozelle, Romansco, Bennings Green Tint, Sunburst squash/zuchinni are all great sellers.

There are so many great vegetables out there to try. What works for me may not work for you but we have had great success with what we grow. And that's the deterimining factor: if you have success growing AND selling something stick with it!
myfamilysfarm
14 years ago
I use mostly OP seeds. They're cheaper and easier for me to get. In your first year, you will have alot of start-up expenses, so watch your expenses or you will find out that you haven't made money and may get discouraged.

My veggies are:

Zucchini-Black Beauty, does just fine and only $11/pound.
Peppers, still uncertain at this time
Yellow Squash-Early Prolific, does great, actually TOO well for my market. $10/lb
Butternut Squash-Waltham, $13/lb
Acorn Squash, Table Queen, $11/bl
Spaghetti Squash, $19.00/lb, higher price this year. Last year 1/2 lb produced 22 bushel of good squash.
Tomato-Big Beef, last year not so good, previous year-picked 1,000 lbs per week for 6 weeks off of approximately 400 plants. The weight is for good, non-split red ripe tomatoes.
Tomato-Yellow Pear, don't plant alot they will produce FOREVER, it seems.
Tomato-Black Cherry, very good tasting and producing, customers love them once they try them. Perfect size to offer samples without needing to cut them.
Eggplant- Black Beauty, eggplant doesn't do well for me usually, but this one is the only one that I can grow. $3.85/oz
Cukes, I don't have good luck with Straight 8 even if the seeds are cheaper.
Pickles, I found National Pickling the best one for me.

As you can see, I plant alot of winter squash. I can plant and almost forget them. Sometimes we get squash borers, but that is rare. Plus while they are growing, I am picking tomatoes and zucchini.

I also have strawberries, Ozark Beauty is a very good tasting berry, also have Earliglow and Jewel, Earliglow is new for us, but the Jewel was very tasty and productive for their first year. We planted them in the fall of 2008 and picked in May/June 2009.
Related Discussions
BEST Vegetable Varieties (yield, taste, pests, disease, etc.)
Q
Comments (8)
We don't grow as much garden as we used to so I will only include what we grow Bean (Runner or climbers)---- We grow bush beans. Royal burgandy--a purple bean that turns bright green when cooked. It's tender and never stringy and Gold crop a good yellow bean Beet Cabbage Carrot Celery Corn ----------------sugar baby a bicolor early super sweet sweet 67 days great for northern climates and excellent flavor Cucumber (Slicing) --sweet slice, a burpless long european variety Cucumber (Pickling) hands down it has to be Cool Breeze hybrid--a small vine and leaves it's ideal for small gardens, all female flowers, grows to a maximum 4 to 6 inches. It has good flavor for eating and is great for pickling Garlic Green/Red Pepper (Sweet) We grow only green sweet peppers--our season is too short for the colored ones. I like big bertha. Jalapeno Lettuce (Loose Leaf, green, red) We grow red sails leaf lettuce-- nice flavor and never gets bitter even when it's old and either a baby leaf blend or muscilin mix Onion-- (Sweet) We grow dutch sets. Pea-- (climbing) My husband loves peas. We grow 2 kinds --green arrow 67 days and knight 57 days. That way we extend the season and don't have everything maturing at once Potato-- We grow lots of potatoes and 3 varieties with different growing conditions. Red chieftan who like it moist, Superior who like it dry and hot and Kenebecs who usually produce no matter what, some years better than others. Radish --I switch it up and grow several kinds during the summer. I only plant a few at a time. Spinach Strawberry --I like the everbearing ones--no special variety Swiss Chard --no special variety Tomato (Slicing, Canning, Salsa) -I usually have 3 different kinds. I find bush beefsteak a reliable producer, but the others I'm always changing. Tomato (Cherry)--If you can get a hold of Sunsugar you simply have to try them. At maturity they are a golden yellow and good tasting--my grandkids eat them like candy
...See More
Favorite Vegetable/Gardening Books
Q
Comments (27)
Now this is a subject dear to my heart. Many months when I don't post to the month's reading thread, it is because I am immersed in garden books and thought they were really too off topic to include. I am simply delighted to have an excuse to describe a few of my favorites. Currently I am reading Plant-Driven Design by Scott Ogden and Lauren Springer Ogden. This is a landscaping book that presents the novel concept that gardens are for the growing of plants, not for hardscape, the non-growing parts of a garden. This approach is long overdue in my opinion. On the other hand, I find Nan Fairbrother's The Nature of Landscape Design to be a very thought-provoking book about how shaping outdoor spaces influence people. It has long been a favorite with me. You can probably tell from my forum name that I am enthusiastic about growing roses. No doubt it comes as no surprise that I suggest two rose books. The first is Visions of Roses by Peter Beales, eye candy raised to an art form. The second, oddly enough, is a rose catalog, Vintage Gardens Book of Roses Not only is the catalog highly informative, it is also one of the most beautifully written rose books I know. I grow food, too, and like to read about that as well. Amy Goldman's book The Compleat Squash has inspired me to experiment with growing all sorts of heirloom squashes, and to cook with them too. I'll end with recommending Gene Logsdon's The Contrary Farmer, a book that eloquently advocates a return to the small mixed farm. His is not the only voice that speaks for this approach to food production, but his was the one that made the life actually appeal to me. Not that I'm going to take up farming, mind you. But I have gone from growing a strictly ornamental garden to growing one that is heavy in vegetable and fruit as well as flowers and shrubs. As for the question posed by PAM, it is downright dangerous to ask me what I grow in my garden! First off I grow roses along with all kinds of perennials, bulbs, and herbs in the front and roadside areas. In the back my husband grows tomatoes, peppers, beans, and eggplants. I have a couple of beds with garlic, shallots, peas, broccoli, Swiss chard, beets, and fennel. I'm digging a bed for 30 asparagus crowns that should arrive in the mail any day. And of course I'm getting ready to plant all those heirloom squashes. Besides that we have lots of fruit plants, all sorts of citrus as well as plums, a peach, a fig, an apricot, a loquat, apples, mulberries, pomegranates, persimmons, blueberries, grapes, and a young avocado tree. Some of these plants are established and producing food, but many are young and not yet mature enough to bear fruit. Rosefolly
...See More
What are your favorite varieties of vegetables to grow?
Q
Comments (1)
I'm currently growing cherry tomato (Gardener's Delight), dwarf tomato (Adelaide Festival), Early Jalapeno, Sylvetta arugula, and salad greens. I wish I could grow more, but city-living with limited outdoor and window space. I hope to grow kale once autumn comes.
...See More
What are your favorite varieties of vegetables to grow?
Q
Comments (4)
dirtmechanic, I researched bifenthrin AKA Bug B Gon. Am a bit afraid. I have always gardened organically, but do need help with those &%$# squash bugs. I guess you tried it, I am also guessing that you are still alive. Any advice about consuming squash after using it?
...See More
andreaz6wv
14 years ago
You can't wrong with any vegetable at my market. It's newer market and there's some things that need worked out, but I usually sold out or was very close to it every day I was there. I don't do corn b/c I don't have the space and there are a few farmers there who are the go to people for corn. I try to sell things that are not so normal, being small, it's what kept me alive there :)

Andrea
rdback
14 years ago
Tommyk wrote: "We have our own strain of Thai Dragon hot pepper that will give any other hot pepper a run for its money. It is super productive and matures to a fiery red way before any Habanero!"

Hi Tommyk,

I'm not a market grower (as yet anyway) but I do love to grow peppers. I'm always interested in peoples' "favorite". I was wondering if you'd be interested in sharing a few seeds for my personal use. I can send you a SASE and/or we can work out a seed trade perhaps. I would have sent an e-mail but you don't have one set up.

Please contact me via e-mail from my Member Page (just click on my posting id) if you're interested.

Thanks and happy growing,

Rick

Favorite Vegetable Varieties For The Market Garden

Comments (4)

tommyk

myfamilysfarm

Related Discussions

andreaz6wv

rdback

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US